Dr. Winston Wright was the Director of the New York Museum of Natural History at the time of the events of Relic.
Pale-skinned with thinning hair, Wright favored Savile Row suits and single malt Scotch. He was a somewhat pompous bureaucratic administrator fond of fundraisers and appearances.
During the early stages of the Museum Beast Murders, Wright and his staff were decidedly uncooperative with the investigation led by FBI Special Agent Pendergast and NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta. When Pendergast ordered the grand opening of the Superstition Exhibition canceled, Wright appealed directly to his old college friend, the Governor. The grand opening continued as planned and quickly became a disaster as the guests discovered a recently-murdered body inside the exhibit. Shortly afterward, the the power and security systems failed, trapping many people inside in the museum.
After the museum's security director was killed, Wright, his assistant director Ian Cuthbert, and head of public relations Lavinia Rickman fled the chaos and retreated to Wright's old lab on one of the museum's upper floors. Once safely inside, Wright retrieved a hidden handgun and flashlight from the file cabinets, reflecting again on his own brilliance and the ineptitude of the police before bringing out a bottle of scotch.
Wright proceeded to drink most of the bottle while the trio discussed their escape plan and argued over their handling of the disappearance of a graduate student several years before. He even drunkenly fired Cuthbert, calling him a small-minded jealous bully after the assistant director relieved him of the liquor and the gun.
Wright and Rickman were killed by Mbwun in the museum's hall of dinosaurs as they attempted to escape.
After Wright's death, the directorship of the museum went to Dr. Olivia Merriam.